The “Madness” has arrived Hot Read fans! The 2011 NCAA Basketball Tournament is underway (kinda) and really hits full gear this Thursday. Last year was a mediocre year for us here at Hot Read, but we did ride West Virginia a long way to salvage some of our other early upsets. Check out our picks and print them off. Keep our bracket next to yours and see if you have what it takes to bust our bracket. For our full size bracket

please click on the bracket below for our FULL SIZE printable bracket that you can print off and compare to your own. If you take a closer look you will find a few upsets, but not as many as years past. First round upsets that the Hot Read really likes are: Clemson over West Virginia, Florida St. over Texas A&M, Utah State over Kansas State, Belmont over Wisconsin, Gonzaga over St. John’s, and Michigan St. over UCLA.

Just when you thought you’d seen everything………the University of Oregon went and did something else. Known for their wild, neon, and sensory overloading football uniforms, the Ducks of Oregon have now brought crazy to the basketball court. So what could Phil Knight and his cronies come up with to stand out on the hardwood? How about a depiction of an Oregon forest imbedded in the court? Yep…and that idea has come to fruition. The picture above is the new basketball court at Matthew Knight Arena, named after Phil Knights late son. (On a side note…for those readers who don’t know who Phil Knight is, he is the founder of Nike). So what do you think of the new court? Innovative? Maybe. Unique? Most definitely. Beyond the game? Yes. I like the idea and the court is beautiful……as a photograph, not a playing surface. I think its a distraction to fans and players alike. It will be interesting to see if there are any controversial calls made around the 3 point line, that is where the tips of the trees and the line converge. Yes, referees could always go to video replay, but should the game be stopped due to the design of the court? Does this open the door for other universities to adopt the same idea of “theme courts”? Let’s hope not. James Naismith would be turning over in his grave.

You thought filling out your bracket this year was tough. Just wait til next year (if money talks and it usually does). Expansion of the NCAA Tournament from the current 64 teams to 96 teams has widely been debated. Many coaches feel that expansion would be better for the sport and increase TV revenue for the schools who participate. But when does a “good thing” become “not a good thing”. How would all of this work logistically? The idea is to have the Top 32 teams get a first round bye. The so called “first round” would be 64 teams and 32 games. The winners of those first round games would then get seeded and matched up against the Top 32 teams that were given first round byes. The NCAA Tournament would proceed like normal from there until it crowned a champion. Big Ten commissioner and former chairman of the NCAA basketball committee, Jim Delaney, called the move to 96 teams “probable”. Which coming from this guys lips means “likely”. He did, however, voice concerns over the dilution of the conference tournaments which precede the NCAA tournament.

“I’m not looking to see the basketball season made less relevant because we do an expansion without knowing a lot about this,” he told The Sporting News in February.

The NCAA can opt-out of their CBS Television contract after this season. Which would open the door for other stations to bid on the new tournament. Could “One Shining Moment” be just a memory after this season? Say it ain’t so! We’ll find out more details on April 21st when the NCAA board meets. College presidents will ultimately decide the direction they want to head. Can you imagine the bidding war for the NCAA Tournament programming? BILLIONS.

Here it is…….The Hot Read Sports 2010 NCAA Tournament Bracket. How will we stack up? Can you beat Hot Read Sports? Find out by clicking HERE or clicking on the thumbnail bracket below and printing off the full size copy. Follow us along with your bracket and let us know how we stacked up to your amazing college basketball knowledge. Good Luck!!

Everyone knows that the guy who wins your NCAA tournament pool doesn’t know anything about basketball. He enjoys just being a part of something. So how does he pick his way to all that prize money? Throws darts at a bracket? Let’s his dog pick the winners? Has his wife pick while applying her makeup? Who knows. But one thing is for certain. You must pick some upsets. So let’s give it a try. We’ll do this for every round of the tournament. *Disclaimer- If you use these picks and lose all your money don’t call us….If you use these picks to bet and WIN money we expect at least 25% Here are Hot Read Sports’ 2010 NCAA tournament first round upset predictions:

In honor of the NCAA tournament we thought it would be appropriate to post this hilarious rendition of the last few seconds of the 1992 Duke vs. Kentucky East Regional Final. There are two video versions. The original by Christian Laettner and the recreation by Chris Farley. Which one do you like better? You can vote in the comment bar below.

Christian Laettner video:

And now the hilarious recreation by the late funny man Chris Farley:

]]>http://hotreadsports.com/chris-farley-recreates-christian-laettners-last-second-shot/feed/1Coach wins Final Four tickets by sinking half court shot……Sort of.http://hotreadsports.com/coach-wins-final-four-tickets-by-sinking-half-court-shot-sort-of/
http://hotreadsports.com/coach-wins-final-four-tickets-by-sinking-half-court-shot-sort-of/#commentsWed, 27 Jan 2010 23:04:29 +0000adminhttp://thehotread.wordpress.com/?p=127Students at Olathe Northwest high school in Kansas pranked their high school basketball coach. At a pep rally they blindfolded him and told him to shoot a half court shot. If he made the shot he would win Final Four tickets. The theory is, regardless if he makes it, the crowd in attendence would go crazy and cause him to think that he had won. TWO PROBLEMS……..he made the shot, and the students never really had Final Four tickets. No biggie for the coach. He said it was all for fun and never expected to make the shot or get Final Four tickets.

However, an anonymous person has come forward and provided the coach and his family 4 Final Four tickets, travel, and accommodations. Pretty cool. The link below will take you to the video.

After climbing up the ranks to finally reach #1, Kentucky has fallen. Even with another outstanding performance by freshman phenoms John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, the Wildcats couldn’t pull out the victory. This night belonged to 5’9″ senior Devan Downey of South Carolina. Downey scored 30 points and

proved unstoppable in the late moments of the game as South Carolina sealed its first ever win over a #1 ranked opponent 68-62. With this win there is no longer an unbeaten team in college basketball. Wants some better news? March is only 5 weeks away.